for my personal best, id have to pick winning 5 championships in d1 tark, in a span of 9 seasons. doing so as a rookie is what makes it particularly special to me. i spent 4 seasons at my first d1 school ever, moved up to colorado, who hadnt made the NT in 5 seasons or something like that, and then after 2 seasons of rebuilding, we started our 5/9 run - seems about the fastest path to a great run you could have. the first title of that run is by far the single title i am most proud of, because the team just wasnt very good. they were questionably in the top 25, i doubt many humans would have included us in a hand-made top 25. i was just hoping to get my first d1 NT win (making the 2nd round), pretty crazy to get the first win and first title in the same season. i remember in the 2nd round as a 1 seed (we were 34-1 on the season in the end), being so much less talented than my opponent, i just couldnt believe how good d1 teams were. i was still a rookie, it blew me away that an 8 seed could be that talented. i thought i was dead in the water! anyway, the rest of the titles were fun too but the teams were SO much better it wasnt even close, so that first one is the one that has always stuck with me. a lot of the key players, i hadn't even recruited, there were like 3-4 seniors who were a vital part - to me, that makes it more special, not less, because the quality of my recruiting was higher , and i had to make the best of what i had (actually my recruiting was worse, i only brought in 1 high end player and he didnt even start. but the next round at colorado and the ones at a&m, i recruited much better players).

*Making the NT Championship game as a 12 seed.
*Appearing in that NT Championship game and then the PIT Championship game the following season.
*Leading Oberlin to it's current place as the #2 all-time team in W's in Knight D3.

Probably early in my HD career with Whitman in Tark. I began a season 1-7 and then made a lineup switch and lost only 3 games the rest of the season and got to the Sweet 16 before losing a close game to a 1 seed.

One lousy D3 chamionship for ol' Vassar (Knight); seems like forever ago. I wrote something like "I'm the happiest boy in the world and I'm only slightly kidding" in the coaches' corner.

Regrets, I've had a few. Most notably, when coaching my alma mater Amherst in Smith, we made a national title game and led by 17 points in the second half. I don't have to say what happened next. It still sticks in my craw and that was maybe three years ago in real time. Also lost title games (handily) with Vassar and with Occidental in Tarkanian, but it's the Amherst one that haunts my dreams. Again, I'm only slightly kidding.

Edit: I was doing a tracking thread back then so was able to look it up. My memory inflated the blown lead by two points. Here is what I wrote back then:

Season 42 was both our most rewarding season, as we reached the national finals for the first time, and our most heart-breaking, as we built a 15-point lead in the second half of that game only to lose to Shenandoah by four, 70-66. Congratulations to giesen5 and robdogg21 on the title.

I haven't been around as long as most of you guys. But for me is two things. One is coaching my hometown school Springfield College to a CT and then to a win over the #1 seed on th NT as a #16 seed. Two and probably the thing I enjoy the most about this game is running the non-conference tournament I run in the Allen world. Check it out, still updating the website for this years event. www.freewebs.com/nyackinvitational/